Emotions
by narutofreak09
Summary: Naruto and Ino struggle with emotional turmoil during high school. As their feelings for each other grow clearer, will their love blossom with it? AU
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:I do not own or claim to own Naruto or anything relating to it**

A/N:This is an AU story i came up with a few weeks back. Also my first fanfic *nervousness*

Chapter 1

~Naruto~

An alarm goes off. It's 5 in the morning, and Naruto groans as he reaches for the alarm to turn it off. After a few more minutes of tossing and turning he finally decides he isn't gonna fall asleep again. So he gets up and starts to prepare for school.

Naruto Uzumaki, son of Minato Namikaze, former mayor of Konoha, who died a day before Naruto was born due to some strange heart disease, and Kushina Uzumaki, lives in the town of Konoha. Its current mayor is Tsunade. Head of the Police Force was Fugaku Uchiha, married to Mikoto Uchiha, best friend of Kushina, who has two sons, Itachi and Sasuke, who was incidentally Naruto's best friend.

After getting dressed he heads downstairs, where his mother has already prepared breakfast for him. "'Morning mom" he says. "You're up early" she replies. He grins as he takes a bite out of the PB&J sandwich in front of him. "You're picking up Ino right?" "Yes mom" he replied and they didn't say another word until he left. As he got into his 79' Dodge Charger, it used to belong to his dad, he started thinking about today, about how boring it was probably going to be.

See Naruto is a junior at Konoha High. The most boring school in the history of the world, run by Iruka Umino. Along with fellow juniors Shino Aburame, Shikamaru Nara, Sasuke Uchiha, Gaara, Kiba Inuzuka, Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuuga, Ino Yamanaka, sophomores Neji Hyuuga, Kankuro, Tenten, Karin and senior Temari they tried to make life interesting.

Ino Yamanaka, Naruto's best friend since kindergarten. Sure they argued a lot, but she was fun to be around. Except when she wanted to go shopping, Naruto thought, always dreading the days Ino dragged him along to the mall.

As he pulled up to her house and got out, he knocked on the door, Inoichi Yamanaka opened. "'Morning Mr. Yamanaka, is Ino ready?" he asked. "Not yet Naruto. You can come inside if you like" was his reply. Naruto stepped inside and immediately ran up the stairs. The door to Ino's room was unlocked and so he stepped in. "Geez Naruto, you could give a gall some warning" was Ino's first comment, while she brushed her hair and carefully tied it into a ponytail. "I don't see why, it's not like I'll be seeing anything new" he replied, as Ino's face suddenly turned red. This was true as Naruto once walked in on Ino taking a shower. According to him it was Ino's fault for not locking the door, but you don't hear him saying that out loud. "Whatever. Shouldn't we be heading for school?" she asked. Naruto simply shrugged as he walked out, Ino following him. "Dad I'm off" she said. "Ok honey, have a great day" he managed before the door closed shut behind him.

When they arrived at school everyone was buzzing, and when they saw the announcement for the fall dance, Naruto was already proven wrong. This was going to be a very interesting day

~Ino~

A fall dance. What was she going to do. She didn't even have the right clothes, let alone a possible date. Who was she going to ask? Certainly not Naruto. Sure they were best friends and hey may be cool, but he's still a moron. Shino or Gaara? But Sakura has a crush on Shino, so how could she betray her best friend like that? And Gaara just wasn't her type. It was common knowledge among girls that anyone who dared even flirt with Shikamaru had to deal with Temari, and she definitely didn't want that. And no matter how much they denied it, something was up between Neji and Tenten, which leaves Sasuke and Kankuro. Oh Sasuke, if only he knew how her heart desired her. It was settled then. She would ask Sasuke after third period English, in private. How could he refuse _her_, Ino Yamanaka? She would have to go shopping after school, but it's a good thing Naruto was there.

But that's as far as her plans went. In her head. Because Sasuke immediately asked Karin to go with him. Karin. Of all the people in this school he asked Karin, completely ignoring her. Well then Kankuro would have to do. Not that he wasn't cute. With his light-brown hair and hazel colored eyes. Ok scratch that, he was downright handsome. But he wasn't Sasuke.

He agreed, and it was settled. At lunch when they all sat at their table the girls started conversing about their dates and what they were going to wear, among other things. It appeared Naruto asked Tenten to go with him. '_Great'_ Ino thought. Tenten could do a lot better, but could also do even worse. She ignored the sudden tugging in her gut. There was no way she was jealous of Tenten. After another day of school she headed outside, where Naruto was waiting for her.

"What took you?" was the first thing he asked her. "Algebra" she replied with a faint smile. He grinned as he got in the car. She followed suit. "Before we go home you're taking me to the mall" she said as he pulled out into the street. She thought she heard him groaning for a second, but decided it must have been the engine


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:I do not own or claim to own Naruto or anything relating to it**

Chapter 2

~Naruto~

Why? Why was he always the one she dragged along to go shopping? Naruto thought he must have been the most unlucky guy on the face of the planet. They'd been in and out of 9 stores, and still Ino wasn't satisfied with any dress. "How about this one?" she asked, coming out of the dressing room in a low-cut sleeveless purple dress and black leggings. The collar was just low enough to show off her decent décolleté, yet high enough to not reveal any details. In short it was stunning. "Perfect" he mumbled. She frowned. "Naruto if you're not going to be serious then don't say anything." "It's great. Now can we get out of here?" "Fine" she scoffed. She paid for the dress and they headed home.

"God only knows why you need so many dresses." he suddenly said on the drive home. "A woman has to look good for a man doesn't she?" was her reply. "Still doesn't explain why you need so many." They continued this argument the entire drive, and it was getting more heated then their usual arguments. By the time they got to Ino's home they were screaming their heads off. They got closer to each other as their voices got even louder. And then out of nowhere, their lips met each other. At first it was just a soft gentle kiss. But then it got rougher, more instinctive. Naruto just wanted time to freeze, it just felt so right. He slipped his tongue through both their lips, meeting Ino's tongue in an embrace; she did the same and explored the inner caves of each other's mouth. But when he felt Ino's hand tugging at his pants he backed away and Ino in shock, rand out of the car into her house. Naruto sat there for a few seconds, but decided he should be heading home.

After arriving home he ignored the "How was school" comments from his mom and headed straight for his room, burying his head in his pillow, trying to collect his thoughts.

There was no denying that Ino was hot, that was for sure. But when did he suddenly start viewing Ino this way? They've known each other for over 10 years dammit. If they had any chemistry they'd already be going out. But they've always been just friends. The more he thought about it the more it confused him

After a few hours his mom called him down for dinner, but for the first time in ever, Naruto wasn't hungry. Before he went down he received an email

_From: _

_This evening NEVER happened_

_~x~ _

_Ino_

_~Ino~  
_

After running inside she stood with her back to the door, as if to prevent Naruto from coming inside if he were to try. She brought her finger to her lips. _Why_, she thought, _why did you have to kiss me Naruto?_ She knew she was being childish. She kissed him just as much as he kissed her. She didn't know why she did it, she just reacted instinctively. But she ignored those facts. It was just easier to blame Naruto for all this. When she heard her father's voice she immediately ran upstairs.

The truth was, she actually enjoyed it. The feel of his lips on hers, softly brushing them, as if they were made of the finest china. She enjoyed the feel of his tongue in her mouth, and at that moment she just let her instincts take over. She didn't know how or why, but she wanted more. She wanted him.

But that can't be true. After all it was Naruto. Naruto who she'd known since they were 4. The same Naruto who she'd always tease. Although she never noticed it before, he does look kind of cute. And always with that stupid grin on his face. '_Dammit Naruto why's you have to make this so complicated? Why couldn't you just have driven off?' _She lied down on her bed, continuing to sort through her feelings

Before going down for dinner she sent Naruto a mail, reminding him that nothing ever happened between them. "So anything interesting happen today?" her father asked her during dinner. "Not really" she replied immediately, maybe a bit too fast. She hoped he would ignore it. "Oh really?" Pang. There it was. Her father could read her like a book. It was one of his she admired and at times detested. "Yeah, Naruto just took me shopping but he seemed a bit out of it, so I was a bit worried". Thankfully her father just gave her a skeptical look and continued eating.


	3. Chapter 3

~Sakura~

"Well?" Sakura impatiently tapped her foot on the ground, waiting for Ino's answer."Well what?" Oh, so the pig was trying to pull a Naruto and play dumb. "You know exactly what. You've been avoiding Naruto for the past few days, and then when you ARE forced to sit in a room with him you blatantly ignore each other. I wanna know why." "It's none of your business forehead." With that Ino turned on her heals and marched off towards her next class. Which left Sakura utterly confused. But there would be time for confusion and questions later. Because the man thing on the pinkette's mind at the moment was shopping. To be more precise shopping for the dance to which she was asked by THE Neji Hyūga, capain of the soccer team. And only yesterday did she notice the lack of dresses in her closet that one would deem apropriate for a dance. So the first thing she did was schedule a shopping date with Hinata and Tenten.

And boy was shopping a success. Sakura found this nice black long-sleeved backless cocktail dress on sale. Hinata instead settled for a simple marine blue evening dress that clashes elegantly with her hair and compliments her eyes. And now the hunt was on for a dress for Tenten. So here they were at store number 17. And by some twist of fate or something, they run into Tenten's date, and just the person Sakura wanted to talk to. "NARUTO" Sakura waved him over. He looked like he went tuxedo shopping. But something was off. He was quiet, his smile was completely fake and most importantly, he was quiet. Naruto was never quiet. Naruto walked over to the trio, slowly, as if someone was watching him."Hi Narutooo." Tenten practically cooed this sentence as she hung onto his arm."Hey Naruto, what brings you to the mall?""Huh? Oh, uhm..tux shopping." "Oh, well while you're here, you wanna help us look for a dress for Ten?" Naruto visibly paled at this statement. "Aww come on Naruto, for me?"_ 'Note to self, get Tenten do get Naruto to do stuff for them.' _With no objections from Naruto the four of them walked to the next store. As they sat by the dressing rooms waiting for Tenten to try on her dress, Sakua took advantage of the opportunity to ask Naruto the question that's been burning her mind recently

~Naruto~

"So what's up between you and Ino?" This question shook Naruto back to the real world. "What? Me and Ino? Nothing, why?" Sakura frowned at hs reply "Don't lie to me Naruto. Something's happened between you two' and it's affecting the both of you." "Sakura it's nothing. I'm just goung through some tough times now is all. Next week is..." "Yeah i know, sorry. It's just that..." Naruto didn't hear the end of her sentence though, and when he looked behind him he immediatly knew why. Tenten was wearing this red one-shouldered cocktail dress, which loosely stuck to her curves, at first glance looking like hey reveal everything, but after a closer watch, Naruto noticed that it left everything to the imagination. In short, she was stunning He wanted to say something sweet or romantic, but the only words his voice could form were "urgh...g...wow." Genuis right? Tenten merely giggled. "Looks like I've made my choice."

After giving the girls a lift home, stopping at his own for a change of clotges and a quick bite to eat and filling up his car, Naruto stopped by Ino. The two of them needed to talk. Bad. As in if we don't talk the world will end bad. He had already decided what he was going to say, and if she didn't want to, he knew how to force her. So why, when he knocked o the door, did he feel so nervous? Why did he feel like this was somehow going to blow up in his face? When he reached her room and went in, he didn't recieve the scolding, playfull threath or cheerfull hello that he expected. Instead..."Naruto, we need to talk." Yep, this was definatly going to blow up in his face


End file.
